wilfrid cardinal napier – In Caelo et in Terra

Tweeting the Synod

Today the Synod of Bishops will convene for the first session of their fifteenth ordinary general assembly on “Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment”, which will run until the 28th of October. In the past, the daily deliberations and individual contributions of delegates were summarised and published by the Holy See press office, but this is no longer the case. An unwise decision, in my opinion, as it makes the entire process a secretive one. As outsiders, all we will have are rumours and the eventual final document. During the previous Synod we have seen what damage rumours can do, especially when they are neither confirmed nor denied in any clear way..

That said, there is always social media, and a number of Synod delegates are enthousiastic (or less so) users of those media. Below, I present a short (probably incomplete) list of delegates who use Twitter. It is mostly western prelates using the medium, with English being the dominant language. Other languages used are Italian, French, Spanish, German and Maltese.

Pope Francis (obviously). As pope he convenes the Synod and acts as its president, although he delegates that duty to four delegate presidents. Pope Francis will not be commenting on the Synod proceedings, but offer prayers and short items to reflect on spiritually.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna. Archbishop of Malta. One of three members of the Commission for Disputes.
Bishop Robert Barron. Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles and CEO of Word On Fire.
Bishop Frank Caggiano. Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Archbishop José Gómez. Archbishop of Los Angeles.
Archbishop Leo Cushley. Archbishop of Edinburgh.
Archbishop Eamon Martin. Archbishop of Armagh.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher. Archbishop of Sydney.
Leonardo Cardinal Sandri. Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Robert Cardinal Sarah. Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Kevin Cardinal Farrell. Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
Peter Cardinal Turkson. Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi. President of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
Gérald Cardinal Lacroix. Archbishop of Québec.
Daniel Cardinal Sturla Berhouet. Archbishop of Montevideo.
Blase Cardinal Cupich. Archbishop of Chicago.
Carlos Cardinal Aguiar Retes. Archbishop of Mexico City.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia. President of the Pontifical Academy for Life,
Archbishop Peter Comensoli. Archbishop of Melbourne.
Father Antonio Spadaro. Member of the Vatican Media Committee.
Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. Archbishop of Vienna.
Wilfrid Cardinal Napier. Archbishop of Durban.
Luis Cardinal Tagle. Archbishop of Manila.
Vincent Cardinal Nichols. Archbishop of Westminster.
Carlos Cardinal Osoro Sierra. Archbishop of Madrid.

Not all of the prelates above use their accounts equally often or in the same way. For example, Cardinal Tagle only posts links to his ‘The Word Exposed’ Youtube catechesis talks, Cardinals Sturla Berhouet and Farrell mostly retweet, Archbishop Fisher hasn’t tweeted since February of 2017, and most use Twitter as a one-way channel. Among those who do respond to what their followers say are Cardinal Napier, Archbishop Comensoli (his Twitter profile picture at left) and Bishop Barron.

Other delegates, such as Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput and Passau’s Bishop Stefan Oster, are active on Facebook, while Belgian Bishop Jean Kockerols keeps the youth of his country up to speed via a blog.

Several delegates have already shared their arrival in Rome, and it is these (such as Archbishop Comensoli and Bishop Barron) who will perhaps offer the best idea of what goes on in the coming weeks. That said, all we will get are glimpses, and no tweeting delegate will share what goes on in the debates. So, in this age of social media and high-speed communication, the Synod of Bishops remains firmly behind closed doors.

Closing the book on the Cardinals’ Letter

The letter of a number of cardinals to Pope Francis, which I wrote about yesterday, was a private piece of correspondence that was never meant to be made public, and the version that was made public is clearly not accurate. I have already added notes to treat all reporting about the letter with extreme care, but today’s statement from Fr. Lombardi should be enough to end speculation.

“As we are aware, at least four of the Synod Fathers who were included in the list of signatories have denied their involvement (Cardinals Angelo Scola, Andre Vingt-Trois, Mauro Piacenza and Peter Erdo). [Add Wilfrid Napier and Norberto Rivera Carrera to that list]

Cardinal Pell has declared that a letter sent to the Pope was confidential and should have remained as such, and that neither the text published nor the signatories correspond to what was sent to the Pope.

I would add that, in terms of content, the difficulties included in the letter were mentioned on Monday evening in the Synod Hall, as I have previously said, although not covered extensively or in detail.

As we know, the General Secretary and the Pope responded clearly the following morning. Therefore, to provide this text and this list of signatories some days later constitutes a disruption that was not intended by the signatories (at least by the most authoritative). Therefore it would be inappropriate to allow it to have any influence.

That observations can be made regarding the methodology of the Synod is neither new nor surprising. However, once agreed upon, a commitment is made to put it into practice in the best way possible.

This is what is taking place. There is very extensive collaboration in the task of allowing the Synod to make good progress on its path. It may be observed that some of the “signatories” are elected Moderators of the Circuli Minori, and have been working intensively. The overall climate of the Assembly is without doubt positive.

Cardinal Napier has expressly asked me to clarify the comments published in an interview with “Crux”, which do not correspond to his opinion. With regard to the composition of the “Commission of the 10” for the final text, it was incorrectly written that “… Napier said, adding that he would actually challenge ‘Pope Francis’ right to choose that’”. Cardinal Napier has requested that this be corrected, affirming the exact opposite: “… no-one challenges Pope Francis’ right to choose that”.

I have no further observations to make.”

Many have been spouting conspiracy theories left and right, but it is my opinion (and policy on this blog) not to participate in that sort of thing. Discussion is necessary, both in the Synod and outside it, but it must be factual and about the topic at hand, not coloured by our own ideas of what does or does not happen behind the scenes, and certainly not about the people. We may disagree with ideas and thoughts, but is it really constructive or useful to then denounce those who came up with them as reactionaries, schismatics or even heretics? I hope that I don’t need to explain that the answer is no

In many reactions yesterday and today, it is clear that more than a few commentators still operate under an idea of Pope Francis. Under that idea, anyone seeming to disagree with the Pope, anyone emphasising the importance and unchangeability of doctrine for example, is attacking the Holy Father. That is nonsense, of course. The letter, if it exists in the form that was published yesterday, is not an attack or sign of opposition: it is the sharing of concerns and the asking of questions, which is and entirely valid and necessary part of any deliberation, meeting or, yes, Synod. It is not a rebellion or attack.

Cardinal concerns – 13 cardinals write to the Pope

Note: This story is developing as many questions have arisen about the contents of the letter and the names of the cardinals who signed it. Treat it with much care.

First there was the 5 Cardinals Book and the 11 Cardinals Book, and now we have the 13 Cardinals Letter. Via Sandro Magister comes a letter that 13 cardinals sent to Pope Francis on the eve of the Synod, on 5 October. In it, they express their concerns and questions about the revised processes of the Synod.

synod

The cardinals, among them Cardinal Eijk, claim that the Instrumentum laboris is flawed in parts and has an excessive influence on the discussions and the final document (if there is even going to be one). The fact that debate is limited to the small language groups and that there is no voting on propositions or the composition of the drafting committee of the reworked Instrumentum are also points of concern. The cardinals also say that anyone tasked with drafting anything should be elected, not appointed. The new procedures, they say, are not true to the spirit of the Synod and their reason for having been made remains unclear.

Their concern that the deliberations of the Synod on a pastoral topic will become dominated by the theological/doctrinal question of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried has in part proven to be unwarranted. Many Synod fathers, not least from the west, have insisted that the Synod is about much more than that question. But as this issue continues to make headlines and dominate the reports and opinion pieces, the letter’s final paragraph remains interesting to read:

“If [the question of Communion for divorced and remarried faithful dominates the deliberations], this will inevitably raise even more fundamental issues about how the Church, going forward, should interpret and apply the Word of God, her doctrines and her disciplines to changes in culture. The collapse of liberal Protestant churches in the modern era, accelerated by their abandonment of key elements of Christian belief and practice in the name of pastoral adaptation, warrants great caution in our own synodal discussions.”

The letter has been signed by the following cardinals:

Carlo Caffarra, archbishop of Bologna
Thomas Cardinal Collins, archbishop of Toronto
Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York
Wim Cardinal Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht
Péter Cardinal Erdö, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and relator general of the Synod
Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Wilfrid Cardinal Napier, archbishop of Durban and one of the presidents delegate of the Synod
George Cardinal Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy
Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Major Penitentiary
Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Angelo Cardinal Scola, archbishop of Milan
Jorge Cardinal Urosa Savino, archbishop of Caracas
André Cardinal Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris and one of the presidents delegate of the Synod

Some have chosen to see this letter as an act of opposition to Pope Francis by overly orthodox prelate who don’t much like the Pope anyway, which, in my opinion is overly simplistic. While a number of the thirteen also contributed to the aforementioned 5 an 11 Cardinals Books and are know to be more conservative in theological and doctrinal matters, others (such as Cardinals Dolan, Collins and Vingt-Trois) are at least less vocally so. Their presence on the list of authors may reflect the more universal nature of the concerns.

These concerns over the Instrumentum laboris are hardly limited to these 13, judging by the commentary by, to name but one, Archbishop Mark Coleridge in his delightful blog posts from the Synod. Another prelate, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, hardly a mean old orthodox reactionary, has also said that the Instrumentum is flawed, but that its purpose is to be sacrificed.

The Synod is a venue of discussion, and that is exactly what we’re getting. Not only about the topic at hand, but also about the best ways of running these affairs. This is all the more prudent as rumours have begun to circulate that the Synod of Bishops will become an even more permanent and regular fixture of Church governance.

Edit: four of the alleged signatories of the letter, Cardinals Angelo Scola, André Vingt-Trois, Mauro Piacenza and Wilfrid Napier have now denied signing this letter. It remains to be seen what this means for the reliability of the letter and other cardinals on the list.

Don Danneels? The power struggles of the Belgian cardinal

In an extensive biography (cover pictured), published earlier this week, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, retired archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and personal choice of Pope Francis to attend the Synod of Bishops assembly in two weeks time, speaks frankly about his membership of a group of cardinals and bishops, which he likenes to a maffia. This group, named Sankt Gallen for the Swiss town where they would meet, became active in 1990s and included among its members the late Cardinals Carlo Martini and Basil Hume, Cardinals Kasper and Lehmann, as well as Bishop Ad van Luyn, bishop emeritus of Rotterdam.

It should be noted that I have not been able to read the biography myself yet, so I draw my conclusion from those snippets I have read and from what others have written.

The group, which Cardinal Danneels called a maffia in an interview, had the aim of radically modernising the Church following the papacy of St. John Paul II. Members could speak freely and no records were kept, as the cardinal admitted once the group’s existence was revealed in research related to the writing of the biography.

Unhappy with the course of the Church under Saint John Paul II (who appointed Cardinal Danneels as archbishop in 1979 and cardinal in 1983), the group tried to influence the conclave of 2005, and Cardinal Danneels freely admits to have been disillusioned when the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was elected as Pope Benedict XVI. Apparently they had a Pope in mind in the mold of Pope Francis, and his 2013 election was met with satisfaction.

It is one thing to discuss the future and express hopes and wishes, it is quite another to form a sort of shadow cabinet in blatant opposition to the Pope and expressing disappointment when the wrong pontiff is chosen. Cardinal Danneels does not seem to see it as problematic that he so callously disregards one Pope and creates an artificial opposition between him and his successor.

As Catholics we believe in the guidance of the Holy Spirit when a new Pope is chosen. We believe that his work is for the good of the work, even when we may sometimes disagree with the way he works or what he focusses on. There is a certain element of loyalty involved, especially on the parts of cardinals and bishops, who have been created and appointed to assist the Pope in the affairs of the world Church. Loyal disagreement, which may be expressed personally to the Pope or even publically when well-founded and expressed with aforementioned loyalty and faith in the Spirit is certainly possible. It may even be good sometimes.

But this is not what the Sankt Gallen group did. Secret meetings, no records, a maffia… This does not give an impression of loyalty, but of an attempt to influence things in secret, behind the scenes. And while the group is evidently happy with Pope Francis, he may turn out to be their greatest enemy. From the very beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has wanted to end the backroom politics and hunger for personal gain in the Curia and has been very clear about what a bishop should be: concerned not with power, but with the sheep.

Personally, I do not like pidgeonholing people (Cardinal Wilfrid Napier has a good article in the Catholic Herald on that same topic, by the way), and I don’t believe for one second that Cardinal Danneels is or has been all bad, as some would have us believe. But that does not take away the fact that he has gone beyond his authority and the conduct expected of cardinals and bishops.

Synod Day 1 – First impressions

^Orthodox metropolitan of Belgium, Athenagoras, who is a guest at the Synod, snapped this photo of Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Mechelen-Brussels. Also visible, at the far right, is Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm.

^Cardinal Eijk (second from the right) is seen in this still from the CTV live stream, seated between Cardinals John Tong Hon of Hong Kong and George Alencherry of Ernakulam-Angamaly. On the other side of Cardinal Alencherry sits Cardinal Marx.

As the Metropolitans of the Low Countries, to name but two, got down to business, the rest of the world was treated to a mixture of openness and secrecy about the Synod’s deliberations. On the one hand the first session was streamed live, but on the other the remainder will take place behind closed doors. And unlike previous Synod assemblies, the contributions of the speakers will also not be published. Instead, there will be summaries of the day’s proceedings and several participants will take part in daily press briefings.

In his opening address to the Synod, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri told the participants not to use their Twitter accounts in the Synod hall. That makes sense, but let’s hope they’ll continue using them outside the hall. Related to that, there are a few blogging bishops and cardinals at the Synod. In addition to those populating my sidebar, I have also come across the blogs of Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, of Gatineau in Canada, and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville in the US.

The official Vatican website on the Synod also has a bunch of texts and also video interviews with participants in several languages.

Today, Cardinals Maradiaga (Tegucigalpa and the Council of Cardinals), Marx (Munich and the Council of Cardinals), Napier (Durban), Sistach (Barcelona), Erdö (Budapest) and Archbishop Okada (Tokyo) took the first sit-down with the press. Their words there gave some hints at what was discussed in the second congregation, which took place this afternoon.

Cardinal Maradiaga spoke about the importance of marriage preparation which, he said, should start after Confirmation. Cardinal Sistach stressed the importance of the bishops staying as close as possible to the people and their lives, so as to formulate a realistic response. Archbishop Okada added that in Japan it was the laity who kept the faith alive and passed it on to later generations, despite persecutions. Cardinal Napier painted the image of the Church as the Good Samaritan, caring for the wounded. Cardinal Marx, then, stated that there needs to be a public debate on the Synod’s themes.

The entire mission programme, so to speak, of the Synod was outlined by the ubiquitous Cardinal Péter Erdö, in his Relatio ante disceptationem.

^And in the end, the Pope strolled home… (photo courtesy of Charles Le Bourgeois)

Enter the Synod members

Yesterday the Holy See published the list of participants in the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family. Of course, there are the usual suspects: the heads of the Roman Curia departments, the standing members of the Synod and the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences, with the latter being default participants in an Extraordinary General Synod, which this one is. Pope Francis has had a personal touch in the selection of several participants; noteable among those are Cardinal Kasper, to all appearances a theologian much appreciated by the Holy Father, but also the vast majority of cardinals he created in his first consistory of last February.

A breakdown per country also shows Pope Francis’ fairly strong focus on both the southern half of the globe and the Middle East. When looking at the members personally appointed by the Pope, as well as the lay and professional participants and auditors, we see that, while 35 participants come from Europe (19 of whom are based in Rome or other parts of Italy), 15 participants come from Asia (5 of them from the Middle East), 12 from Central and South America, 9 from Africa, 4 from Oceania and 4 from North America. Add to those the bishops’ conference presidents and not least the fact that two of the three President Delegates come from outside Europe, and you get a distinct non-western picture.

From a local point of view it is interesting to see that no less than four participants come from Belgium, while there is only a single one from the Netherlands and a mere two from Germany. Belgium sends Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard,which was expected as he is the president of the Belgian bishops’ conference, but also his predecessor, Cardinal Godfried Danneels (pictured), as well as Father George Henri Ruyssen of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Additionaly, Metropolitan Athenagoras, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belgium, attends as a “fraternal delegate”.

From the Netherlands comes the archbishop of Utrecht, Cardinal Wim Eijk, as the president of our bishops’ conference, and Germany sends Cardinal Reinhard Marx, not a stranger in Rome, and Berlin’s Professor Ute Eberl.

And of course the list has been criticised, not least today by Fr. Thomas Reese. His argument that the presence of heads of the Curia is a bad thing, and an indication that Pope Francis’ intentions of overhauling and streamlining the workings of the Curia is doomed to fail, is plainly ludicrous. He argues that the prefects and presidents of the Curia are merely staff members and not policy makers, and should therefore be merely attending, not speaking or voting in the Synod, which is an extreme oversimplification. By that reasoning the presidents of the bishops’ conferences should not be there as participants either. The members of the Roman Curia are the closest collaborators of the Pope. They meet with him on a weekly basis and he is generally kept up to date on whatever is going on in the various department. But the Pope is one man, so the prefects and presidents not only have the leeway to make their own decisions, that is also their mandate. They are also not random clerics appointed on a whim, but experienced in their own field of work. They are far more than staff. Their experience, knowledge and mandate are enough to give them not only the right and duty to attend the Synod, but also to contribute and decide. Cricitism like that of Fr. Reese seems mostly motivated by a deeply ingrained fear and mistrust of the Curia, which has created an artifical opposition between individual faithful and the institutional Church.

Anyway, the Synod is still a couple of weeks away. Let’s give it the chance it deserves and not let it die a quiet death once the delegates have returned home.

Below is the full list of participants, as published yesterday:

PRESIDENT

Pope Francis

GENERAL SECRETARY

Lorenzo Cardinal Baldiserri

PRESIDENT DELEGATES

André Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, France
Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines
Raymunda Damasceno Cardinal Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Brazil

RELATOR GENERAL

Péter Cardinal Erdö, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Hungary, President of the Concilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae (CCEE).

SPECIAL SECRETARY

Archbishop Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, Italy

PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE MESSAGE

Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture

VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE MESSAGE

Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina

SYNOD FATHERS FROM THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES

Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, President of the Synod of the Catholic Coptic Church
Patriarch Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch of the Greek-Melkites, President of the Synod the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church
Patrirach Ignace Youssif III Younan, Patrirach of Antioch of the Syrians, President of the Syriac Catholic Church
Patriarch Béchara Boutros Cardinal Raï, Patrirach of Antioch of the Maronites, President of the Synod of the Maronite Church
Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, President of the Synod of the Chaldean Church
Patriarch Nersos Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Patrirach of Cilicia of the Armenians, President of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyc, President of the Synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Church
Major Archbishop George Cardinal Alencherry, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, President of the Syro-Malabar Church
Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Cardinal Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum, President of the Synod of the Syro-Malankarese Church
Major Archbishop Lucian Cardinal Muresan, Major Archbishop of Făgăras şi Alba Iulia, President of the Synod of the Romanian Church
Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Archbishop of Addis Abeba of the Ethiopics, President of the Council of the Ethiopian Church, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia and Eritrea
Archbishop William Charles Skurla, Archbishop of Pittsburgh of the Ruthenians, President of the Council of the Ruthenian Church in the United States of America
Archbishop Ján Babjak, Archbishop of Presov of the Slovaks, President of the Council of the Slovak Church

PRESIDENT OF THE BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES

Bishop Benoît Comlan Messan Alowonou, Bishop of Kpalimé, Togo
Bishop Oscar Omar Aparicio Céspedes, Military Ordinary of Bolivia
Archbishop José María Arancedo, Archbishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Argentina
Bishop Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, Sweden
Raymundo Damasceno Cardinal Assis, Archbishop of Aparecido, Brazil (see also above)
Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genova, Italy
Bishop Gervaise Banshimiyubusa, Bishop of Ngozi, Burundi
Bishop Michael Dixon Bhasera, Bishop of Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, Archbishop of Valladolid, Spain
Bishop Anthony Fallah Borwah, Bishop of Gbarnga, Liberia
Bishop Jean-Claude Bouchard, Bishop of Pala, Chad
Josip Cardinal Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia
Archbishop Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa
Bishop Markus Büchel, Bishop of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland
Archbishop Paul Bùi Van Doc, Archbishop of Thành-Phô Hô Chí Minh, Vietnam
Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, Archbishop of Tunja, Colombia
Archbishop Ignatius Chama, Archbishop of Kasama, Zambia
Archbishop Louis Chamniern Santisukniran, Archbishop of Thare and Nonseng, Thailand
Archbishop Joseph Coutts, Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan
Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario, Archbishop of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Archbishop John Atcherley Dew, Archbishop of Wellington, New Zealand
Bishop Nicolas Djomo Lola, Bishop of Tshumbe, Congo-Kinshasa
Bishop Basílio do Nascimento, Bishop of Baucau, Timor-Leste
Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau, Canada
Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands
Péter Cardinal Erdö, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary (see also above)
Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas, Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador
Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati Andrello, Archbishop of Santiago, Chile
Bishop Emmanuel Félémou, Bishop of Kankan, Guinea
Bishop Oscar Gerardo Fernández Guillén, Bishop of Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Archbishop Ruggero Franceschini, Archbishop of Izmir, Turkey
Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, Archbishop of Poznan, Poland
Archbishop Dionisio Guillermo García Ibáñez, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Archbishop Zef Gashi, Archbishop of Bar, Montenegro
Bishop Catalino Claudio Giménez Medina, Bishop of Caacupé, Paraguay
Bishop Andrej Glavan, Bishop of Novo Mesto, Slovenia
Archbishop Roberto Octavio González Nieves, Archbishop of San Juan de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India
Archbishop Jan Graubner, Archbishop of Olomouc, Czech Republic
Bishop Mario Grech, Bishop of Gozo, Malta
Archbishop John Ha Tiong Hock, Archbishop of Kuching, Malaysia
Archbishop Denis James Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne, Australia
Bishop Eugène Cyrille Houndékon, Bishop of Abomey, Benin
Archbishop John Hung Shan-Chuan, Archbishop of Taipei, Taiwan
Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria
Bishop Peter Kang U-Il, Bishop of Cheju, South Korea
Archbishop Samuel Kleda, Archbishop of Douala, Cameroon
Bishop Franjo Komarica, Bishop of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Archbisop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, Belarus
Bishop Patrick Daniel Koroma, Bishop of Kenema, Sierra Leone
Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz, Archbishop of Louisville, United States of America
Archbishop Vincent Landèl, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco
Chibly Cardinal Langlois, Bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti
Bishop Mathieu Madega Lebouakehan, Bishop of Mouila, Gabon
Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium
Archbishop Gerard Tlali Lerotholi, Archbishop of Maseru, Lesotho
Bishop Felix Lian Khen Thang, Bishop of Kalay, Myanmar
Patriarch José Macário do Nascimento Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal
Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi, Bishop of Tonga, Tonga
Bishop Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, Vicar Apostolic of Paksé, Laos
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland
Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Archbishop of München und Freising, Germany
Archbishop Angelo Massafra, Archbishop of Shkodrë-Pult, Albania
Bishop Juan Matogo Oyana, Bishop of Bata, Equatorial Guinea
Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi, Arcbishop of Lubango, Angola
Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege, Bishop of Kabgayi, Rwanda
Archbishop Thomas Meram, Archbishop of Urmya, Iran
Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine
Bishop Lúcio Andrice Muandula, Bishop of Xai-Xai, Mozambique
Archbishop Liborius Ndumbukuti Nashenda, Archbishop of Windhoek, Namibia
Bishop Benjamin Ndiaye, Bishop of Kaolack, Senegal
Bishop Tarcisius J.M. Ngalalekumtwa, Bishop of Iringa, Tanzania
Vincent Gerard Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, United Kingdom
John Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya
Bishop Rimantas Norvila, Bishop of Vilkaviskis, Lithuania
Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic
Archbishop John Baptist Odama, Archbishop of Gulu, Uganda
Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada, Archbishop of Tokyo, Japan
Bishop Arnold Orowae, Bishop of Wabag, Papua New Guinea
Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong, Ghana
Archbishop Paul Yembuado Ouédraogo, Archbishop of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
Archbishop Diego R. Padrón Sánchez, Archbishop of Cumaná, Venezuela
Bishop Franghískos Papamanólis, Bishop of Syros and Santorini, Greece
Albert Malcolm Ranjith Cardinal Patabendige Don, Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Bishop Gregorio Nicanor Peña Rodríguez, Bishop of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey, Dominican Republic
Archbishop Tomasz Peta, Archbishop of Mary Most Holy in Astana, Kazakhstan
Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, Archbishop of Mother of God at Moscow, Russia
Bishop Maurice Piat, Bishop of Port-Louis, Seychelles
Archbishop Patrick Christopher Pinder, Archbishop of Nassau, Bahamas
Archbishop Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderón, Archbishop of Ayacucho, Peru
Archbishop Georges Pontier, Archbishop of Marseille, France
Bishop Louis Portella Mbuyu, Bishop of Kinkala, Congo-Brazzaville
Bishop Christo Proykov, Apostolic Exarch of Sofia of the Bulgarians, Bulgaria
Francisco Cardinal Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico
Archbishop Ioan Robu, Archbishop of Bucharest, Romania
Óscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Bishop Sócrates René Sándigo Jirón, Bishop of Juigalpa, Nicaragua
Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Wien, Austria
Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Archbishop of Addis Abeba of the Ethiopics, Ethiopia (see also above)
Archbishop Zbignev Stankevics, Archbishop of Riga, Latvia
Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta, Indonesia
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Bishop Jean-Baptiste Tiama, Bishop of Sikasso, Mali
Archbishop Alexis Touabli Youlo, Archbishop of Agboville, Côte d’Ivoire
Archbishop Fausto Gabriel Trávez Trávez, Archbishop of Quito, Ecuador
Archbishop Désiré Tsarahazana, Archbishop of Taomasina, Madagascar
Patriarch Fouad Twal, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, Archbishop of Panamá, Panama
Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Núñez, Bishop of Vera Paz, Guatemala
Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Philippines
Bishop Rodolfo Pedro Wirz Kraemer, Bishop of Maldonado-Punta del Este, Uruguay
Gabriel Cardinal Zubeir Wako, Archbishop of Khartoum, Sudan
Bishop Joseph Mukasa Zuza, Bishop of Mzuzu, Malawi
Archbishop Stanislav Zvolenský, Archbishop of Bratislava, Slovakia

ELECTED BY THE UNION OF SUPERIORS GENERAL

Father Adolfo Nicolás Pachón, Superior General of the Society of Jesus
Father Mauro Jöhri, Minister General of the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor
Father Mario Alegani, Superior General of the Congregation of Saint Joseph

HEADS OF THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE ROMAN CURIA

Pietro Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State
Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Leonardo Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples
Beniamino Cardinal Stella, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education
Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Major Penitentiary
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Stanislaw Cardinal Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
Kurt Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family
Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Robert Cardinal Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”
Antonio Maria Cardinal Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers
Francesco Cardinal Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture (see also above)
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation
Domenico Cardinal Calcagno, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See
Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi, President of the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See

MEMBERS OF THE ORDINARY COUNCIL

Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, United States of America
Péter Cardinal Erdö, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary (see also above)
Archbishop Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, Italy (see also above)
Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India (see also above)
Laurent Cardinal Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo-Kinshasa
Wilfrid Fox Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa
George Cardinal Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy
Odilo Pedro Cardinal Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo, Brazil
Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Wien, Austria (see above)
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyc, Ukraine (see also above)
Bishop Santiago Jaime Silva Retamalas, Auxiliary Bishop of Valparaíso, Chile, Secretary General of the Episcopal Council of Latin America (CELAM)
Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines (see also above)
Donald William Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, United States of America
Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (see also above)
Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation (see also above)

MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE POPE

Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals
Godfried Cardinal Danneels, Archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium
Walter Cardinal Kasper, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Angelo Cardinal Scola, Archbishop of Milan, Italy
Carlo Cardinal Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna, Italy
Lluís Cardinal Martínez Sistach, Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain
André Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, France (see also above)
Jonh Cardinal Tong Hon, Bishop of Hong Kong, China
Orani João Cardinal Tempesta, Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Adrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul, South Korea
Philippe Nakellentuba Cardinal Ouédraogo, Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Fernando Cardinal Sebastián Aguilar, Archbishop emeritus of Pamplona y Tudela, Spain
Elio Cardinal Sgreccia, President emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life
Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State
Archbishop Giovanni Tonucci, Archbishop of Loreto, Italy
Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli, Archbishop Anciona-Osimo, Italy
Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Tlalnepatla, Mexico, President of the Episcopal Council of Latin America (CELAM)
Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, Archbishop of Delhi, India
Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (see also above)
Bishop Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño, Bishop of Piedras Negras, Mexico
Bishop Edgard Amine Madi, Bishop of Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo of the Maronites, Brazil
Bishop Enrico Solmi, Bishop of Parma, Italy, President of the Commission for Life and Family in the Italian Bishops’ Conference
Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto, Dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota
Father Francois-Xavier Dumortier, Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University Gregoriana
Father Antonio Spadaro, Editor of the magazine “La Civiltà Cattolica”
Father Manuel Jesús Arroba Conde, Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University

UNDERSECRETARY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

Bishop Fabio Fabene

LIST OF OTHER PARTICIPANTS ACCORDING TO THEIR TITLES

Fr. Tony Anatrella, psycho-analist. Specialist in social psychiatry. Consultor to the Pontifical Councils for the Family and for Health Care Workers. France.
Fr. Gérard Berliet, professor of Sacred Scripture at the provincial seminary in Lyon. Head of pastoral care for divorced and remarried faithful in the Archdiocese of Lyon, France.
Fr. Bruno Esposito, professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome.
Fr. Alfonso Fernández Benito, professor of Moral Theology and the Sacrament of Marriage at the Hugher Institute of Theological Studies “San Ildefonso”, director of the Institute for Religious Sciences Santa Maria di Toledo, Spain.
Fr. Arul Raj Gali, National Director of “Holy Cross Family Ministries in India”.
Dr. Jeffrey Goh, professor of Systematic Theology at the archdiocesan seminary and judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Kuching, Malaysia.
Fr. Maurizio Gronchi, professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University Urbaniana in Rome, consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Dr. Rodrigo Guerra López, general director of the Centre for Advanced Social Research, Mexico.
Dr. Jocelyne Khoueiry, member of the Episcopal Commission for the Family of the APECL, Lebanon.
Dr. Helen Kyung Soo Kwon, member of the executive committee of the “Helen Kim Scholarship Foundation at Ewha Womans University”, South Korea.
Fr. Sabatino Majorano, professor of Systemic Moral Theology at the Alphonsianum, Italy.
Mr. Christopher Laurence Meney, director of the Center for life, marriage and family of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia.
Professor Giuseppina de Simone, extraordinary professor of philosophy at the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy in Naples. Married to ∨
Professor Francesco Miano, professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, president of Catholic Action, Italy. Married to ^
Professor Carmen Peña García, director of Especialista en Causas Matrimoniales, professor at the Faculty of Canon Law of the Comillas Pontifical University, Defender of the Bond and Promotor of Justice at the Metropolitan Court of Madrid, Spain.
Fr. George Henri Ruyssen, professor at the Faculty of Oriental Canon Law of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Belgium.

AUDITORS

Mr. Arturo and Mrs. Hermelinda As Zamberline, officials of the ‘Equipe Notre Dame” in Brazil.
Mr. Riyadh Albeer Naoom Azzo and Mrs. Sanaa Namir Ibrahim Habeeb, witnessing of Christian family life in a Muslim environment, Iraq.
Mr. León Botolo and Mrs. Marie Valentine Kisanga Sosawe, founders of Communauté Famille Chrétienne, Congo-Kinshasa.
Professor Zelmira María Bottini de Rey, director of the Institute for Couples and Family of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, president of the Latin-America Network of the Institute of the Family of the Catholic Universities, Argentina.
Mr. George Campos, director of Couples for Christ, Philippines. Married to ∨
Mrs. Cynthia Campos, member of Couples for Christ, Philippines. Married to ^
Mr. Inácio Amândio Chaúque, educator of young couples, Mozambique.
Mrs. Joan Clements, director of the executive committe of the World Organisation Ovulation Method Billings (WOOMB), Australia.
Mr. Stephen and Mrs. Sandra Conway, regional officers for Africa of Retrouvailles, South Africa.
Dr. Ute Eberl, responsible for pastoral care for marriage and family in the Archdiocese of Berlin, Germany.
Mrs. Pilar Escudero de Jensen, member of the vicariate general of the Archdiocese of Santiago, Chile, member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, member of the Family Institute of Schönstatt, Chile. Married to ∨
Mr. Luis Jensen Acuña, member of the Bioethics Centre of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, member of the Family Institute of Schönstatt, Chile. Married to ^
Dr. Jean Dieudonné Gatsinga and Mrs. Emerthe Gatsinga Tumuhayimpundu, repsonsible for young families of the Focolare movement in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda.
Mr. Jeffrey Heinzen, director of Natural Family Planing of the Diocese of La Crosse, United States of America. Married to ∨
Mrs. Alice Heinzen, member of the Natural Family Planning Advisory Board of the Diocese of La Crosse, United States of America. Married to ^
Dr. Ilva Myriam Hoyos Castañeda, prosecutor delegate for the defense of the rights of children, youth and family, Colombia.
Mr. Sélim and Mrs. Rita Khoury, leading the Office for Pastoral Care for Families of the Patriarchal Curia of Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon.
Mrs. María Lacalle Noriega, director of the Centre of the Study of the family (Inst. Investigaciones económicas y sociales Francisco de Vitoria), secretary general of the Sociedad Española de bioética y biojurídica, Spain.
Fr. Cajetan Menezes, director of the Family Apostolate in Bombay, India.
Mr. Giuseppe Petracca Ciavarella and Mrs. Lucia Miglionico, medical doctors, members of the National Council for Pastoral Care of Families, Italy.
Sister Margaret Muldoon, Superior General of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux, Ireland.
Mr. Francisco Padilla, officer of the Couples for Christ Foundation for family and life movement, Philippines.
Mr. Algirdas Petronis, vice president of the International Federation of Catholic Families, director of the Centre for the Family of the Archdiocese of Vilnius, Lithuania.
Mr. Romano and Mrs. Mavis Pirola, directors of the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council.
Mr Olivier and Mrs. Xristilla Roussy, responsible for the apostolic branch of Amour et Vérité, France.
Mr. Steve and Mrs. Claudia Schultz, members of the International Catholic Engaged Encounter, United States of America.
Mrs. Michèle Taupin, preident of the movement Espérance et Vie, France.
Mrs. Jeannette Touré, National president of the Association of Catholic Women in Côte d’Ivoire.

FRATERNAL DELEGATES

Archbishop Athenagoras, Metropolitan of Belgium. Ecumenic patriarchate.
Archbishop Hilarion, President of Department of External Church Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
Metropolitan Bishoy, Metropolitan of Damietta, Kafr Elsheikh and Elbarari, Egypt. Coptic Orthodox Church.
Mar Yostinos, Archbishop of Zhale and Bekau, Lebanon. Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.
Bishop Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, England. Anglican Communion.
Dr. Ndanganeni Petrus Phaswaha, Bishop-President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa. World Lutheran Federation.
Dr. Benebo Fubara-Manuel, President of the Nigeria Communion of Reformed Churches. World Communion of Reformed Churches.
Dr. Valérie Duval-Poujol, professor of Biblical Exegesis at the Catholic Institute of Paris, France. World Baptist Alliance.

The conclave is over, Pope Francis sets the tone

pope francis cardinals In his meeting with the cardinals who are still in Rome, Pope Francis brought the conclave period to an end today. In his address, which was characteristically filled with unscripted asides, the Holy Father looked back on the conclave, calling it a “period … filled with meaning not just for the College of Cardinals but also for all the faithful.”

In addition to the usual words of thanks to both the cardinals and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, “a wise and humble interpreter with his gaze always fixed on Christ, the Risen Christ, present and alive in the Eucharist”, Pope Francis also touched upon various matters of faith. He likened the unity experienced in the conclave to the unity in the Church, which results in an openness to the Holy Spirit:

“As someone told me: the Cardinals are the Holy Father’s priests. But we are that community, that friendship, that closeness, that will do good for every one of us. That mutual knowledge and openness to one another helped us to be open to the action of Holy Spirit. He, the Paraclete, is the supreme protagonist of every initiative and manifestation of faith. It’s interesting and it makes me think. The Paraclete creates all the differences in the Church and seems like an apostle of Babel. On the other hand, the Paraclete unifies all these differences – not making them equal – but in harmony with one another. I remember a Church father who described it like this: “Ipse harmonia est.” The Paraclete gives each one of us a different charism, and unites us in this community of the Church that adores the Father, the Son, and Him – the Holy Spirit.”

And from his words we may perhaps also glean some idea of what the papacy ahead may bring, as Pope Francis outlined the mission of the Church: “to bring Jesus Christ to humanity, and to lead humanity to an encounter with Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life, truly present in the Church and, at the same time, in every person.”

And although the subsequent conversations with each cardinal was heartwarming to watch, the content of the what the Pope actually said must not be ignored. It is easy to consider him a nice and humble man with his heart in the right place, he is also a staunch Catholic, with a living faith in the Lord. That is what makes him tick, it’s the foundation of his identity. In that sense, Cardinal Napier’s gift of an armband with the text “I believe in God” is as suitable as can be for Pope Francis.

I have a Dutch translation of the Pope’s address.

The waiting game – everything’s temporary in the sede vacante

In a sede vacante, nothing, it seems, is permanent, not even the daily running of the Holy See. While Cardinals Bertone and Sodano, as Camerlengo and Dean of the College of Cardinals respectively, have certain specific duties, these do not extend as far as the duties that a Pope or the Curia in normal circumstances would have. We are all waiting, in this period, for normalcy to resume, but for that we need a visible head, a new Supreme Pontiff.

In the meantime, starting this morning, the cardinals are presented with the current affairs in the Church during their General Congregations and if a situation calls for it they can act together, or task one of their own to perform his duties as he would when there is a Pope. In the case of Cardinal Bertone, he is aided by three cardinals, one each from the orders of bishops, priests and deacons, in managing the Holy See. These three cardinals are appointed for three days only, another indication of the impermanence of their authority. For the first three-day period, which started yesterday and will end tomorrow, the names of Cardinals Giovanni Re, Crescenzio Sepe and Franc Rode were drawn by lot.

The actual decisions and actions undertaken during the General Congregations, and of course the conclave, are subject to an oath of secrecy that the cardinals made yesterday morning. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier (pictured above with Cardinal Collins before the start of the first Congregation), who is perhaps the most active tweeting cardinal at the moment, told his followers this morning: “Given that Pledge of Confidentiality covers matters discussed in General Congregations, only very general comments can be made. Keep praying.” Several cardinals have already shut down their Twitter account or gone radio silent until after the conclave. A full list of twittering cardinals can be found here.

But in the meantime, while much may get done, we are still awaiting the arrival of the final cardinal electors. Only after they arrive can a date for the conclave be decided upon. Until then, with the final arrived expected to be Hong Kong’s Cardinal John Tong Hon sometime tomorrow, the cardinals will continue meeting once a day in the morning.

Photo credit: l’Osservatore Romano

First Sunday – the Dutch cardinals in Rome

simonis rome On the first Sunday of the sede vacante the two Dutch cardinals were already in Rome for several days, and both offered Mass in the eternal city. Cardinal Eijk did so in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle, where he gave his homily in Italian about the day’s Gospel reading.

Cardinal Simonis (pictured) was at the Santa Maria dell’Anima, where the only Dutch Pope’s mortal remains lie. Utrecht-born Adrian VI was Pope from 1522 to 1523. At that church, Cardinal Simonis was accepted into the Guild of the same name, which is tasked with the pastoral care of the German-speaking pilgrims in Rome as well as the Pontifical Institute of the same name and the German Pontifical College. Cardinal Simonis follows in the footsteps of Dutch priest Fr. Antoine Bodar and the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, among others. The Guild’s rector, Fr. Franz Xaver Brandmayr, gave the homily, while Cardinal Simonis concelebrated.

Today, both Dutch cardinals are expected to take part in the first and second General Congregations that will lead up to the conclave. The assembled cardinals may decide upon a start date for the conclave, although there are many who have expressed the desire for more time to get to know each other. As South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier said, although cardinals have een seeing each other more often during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, “[t]hat doesn’t mean I still don’t have to look up on Google” who is who. It is said that the vast majority of cardinals electors are already in Rome, with the remainder mostly arriving this week. Of the 115 electors, 65, including Cardinal Eijk, will be participating in their first conclave. That is a marked difference with the 2005 conclave, when only two cardinals, Baum and Ratzinger, had participated in a conclave before.

Photo credit: Christian van der Heijden

Enter the electors

Today, all the cardinals of the Church received the official letter summoning them to Rome. Cardinal Sodano, as dean of the College of Cardinals, signed the letter. Cardinal Simonis, emeritus archbishop of Utrecht, was one of the cardinals who received the summons, although, like many others, he is already in Rome. The image below shows the letter in the hands of the cardinal, who won’t be able to vote in the conclave, as he is over the age of 80. But all cardinals, elector or not, are expected to take their responsibilities in managing the goods and needs of the Church and the faithful during the sede vacante, as well as preparing for the conclave.Cardinal Sodano’s letter invites the cardinals to the first two General Congregations on Monday. A date for the conclave may be decided upon then, but that is by no means certain. All indications are that the cardinals want time to talk and think.

letter sodano simonis

The electors number 117, although two of them have chosen to remain at home. So here they are, the 115 cardinal electors who will soon be entering the conclave, which they will not be leaving until they have elected a new Supreme Pontiff. As Emeritus Pope Benedict (how odd it is to write that!) said yesterday morning, the new Pope is among them.

A short primer on who’s who among the electors, ordered by precedence (and from left to right and top to bottom, starting at top left and ending at bottom right, in the collage above):

Giovanni Cardinal Re, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops
Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State and Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church
Antonios Cardinal Naguib, Patriarch emeritus of Alexandria of the Copts
Béchara Cardinal Raï, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites
Godfried Cardinal Danneels, Archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels
Joachim Cardinal Meisner, Archbishop of Köln
Nicolás Cardinal López Rodríguez, Archbishop of Santo Domingo
Roger Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles
Jaime Cardinal Ortega y Alamino, Archbishop of Havana
Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte, Archbishop emeritus of Montréal
Vinko Cardinal Puljic, Archbishop of Vrhbosna
Juan Cardinal Sandoval Íñiguez, Archbishop emeritus of Guadalajara
Antonio Cardinal Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid
Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi, Archbishop emeritus of Milan
Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam
Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna
Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of Mexico
Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago
Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, President of the Congregation for Catholic Education
Crescenzio Cardinal Sepe, Archbishop of Naples
Walter Cardinal Kasper, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Ivan Cardinal Dias, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation fo the Evangelisation of Peoples
Geraldo Cardinal Agnelo, Archbishop emritus of São Salvador da Bahia
Audrys Cardinal Backis, Archbishop of Vilnius
Francisco Cardinal Errázuriz Ossa, Archbishop emritus of Santiago
Julio Cardinal Terrazas Sandoval, Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Wilfrid Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban
Oscar Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa
Juan Cardinal Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima
Cláudio Cardinal Hummes, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Clergy
Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires
José Cardinal Policarpo, Patriarch of Lisbon
Severino Cardinal Poletto, Archbishop of Turin
Karl Cardinal Lehmann, Bishop of Mainz
Angelo Cardinal Scola, Archbishop of Milan
Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Archbishop emeritus of Lagos
Gabriel Cardinal Zubeir Wako, Archbishop of Khartoum
Carlos Cardinal Amigo Vallejo, Archbishop emeritus of Sevilla
Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia
Ennio Cardinal Antonelli, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Family
Peter Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Telesphore Cardinal Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi
George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
Josip Cardinal Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb
Jean-Baptiste Cardinal Pham Minh Man, Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City
Philippe Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon
Péter Cardinal Erdö, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest
Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
Agostino Cardinal Vallini, Archpriest of St. John Lateran
Jorge Cardinal Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas
Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux
Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Seán Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston
Stanislaw Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków
Carlo Cardinal Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna
Seán Cardinal Brady, Archbishop of Armagh
Lluís Cardinal Martínez Sistach, Archbishop of Barcelona
André Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris
Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa
Théodore-Adrien Cardinal Sarr, Archbishop of Dakar
Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay
Francisco Cardinal Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
Odilo Cardinal Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo
John Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi
Raúl Cardinal Vela Chiriboga, Archbishop emeritus of Quito
Laurent Cardinal Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa
Paolo Cardinal Romeo, Archbishop of Palermo
Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
Raymundo Cardinal Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida
Kazimierz Cardinal Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw
Albert Cardinal Patabendige Don, Archbishop of Colombo
Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising
George Cardinal Alencherry, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars
Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto
Dominik Cardinal Duka, Archbishop of Prague
Willem Cardinal Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht
Giuseppe Cardinal Betori, Archbishop of Florence
Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York
Rainer Cardinal Woelki, Archbishop of Berlin
John Cardinal Tong Hon, Bishop of Hong Kong
Baselios Cardinal Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars
John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja
Jesús Cardinal Salazar Gómez, Archbishop of Bogotá
Luis Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue
Attilio Cardinal Nicora, President of the Financial Information Authority
William Cardinal Levada, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Franc Cardinal Rode, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Leonardo Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo, President emeritus of the Governorate of the Vatican City State
Paul Cardinal Cordes, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”
Angelo Cardinal Comastri, Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica
Stanislaw Cardinal Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
Raffaele Cardinal Farina, Librarian emeritus of the Vatican Apostolic Library
Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints
Robert Cardinal Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”
Francesco Cardinal Monterisi, Archpriest emeritus of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls
Raymond Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Kurt Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Paolo Cardinal Sardi, Partron of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy
Velasio Cardinal De Paolis, Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ
Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples
Manuel Cardinal Monteiro de Castro, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
Santos Cardinal Abril y Castelló, Archpriest of St. Mary Major
Antonio Cardinal Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State
Francesco Cardinal Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Edwin Cardinal O’Brien, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Domenico Cardinal Calcagno, President of the Adminstration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See
Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi, President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See
James Cardinal Harvey, Archpriest of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls

Who we will see in white on the balcony of St. Peter’s sometime later this month remains anyone’s guess. Only Our Lord knows and, as Cardinal Pell said, it is up to the electors to find out.

Photo credit: [1] RKK.nl, [2] collage my own.